[MHCISQD] Chapter 361: Treasure Hunt

At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the town square was filled with people. The mayor stood there, giving a speech before the competition.

"Good afternoon, everyone! Today is the annual new year's treasure hunt competition! I won't waste much time. The competition today is in teams of two. The pair that finds enough clues first will have the chance to win our carefully prepared prizes! All the prizes are right here!"

With that, the mayor waved his hand, and a staff member removed the cover from the table nearby, revealing the competition prizes in front of everyone.

The largest prize was a 55-inch LCD TV, followed by some electronics and miscellaneous. For a town's new year's competition, it was quite abundant and of a decent standard.

"Wow, looking at it makes me want to participate." Kaminari looked at a new camera on the prize table and said excitedly.

Ashido rolled her eyes and said, "Don't tell me you don't have new year's money. You should have money to buy it, right?"

"Buying with money and winning from a competition is completely different, you know?" Kaminari retorted, "And I've been thinking, did you guys really not tamper with the ballot earlier? Why are there so many girls participating?"

"You checked it yourself, didn't you? We didn't tamper with it at all!" Ashido said loudly.

Indeed, there was no tampering, but it was just manipulated externally to ensure Midoriya and Uraraka were on the same team.

But Ashido was curious herself—apart from them, six other girls were selected. She had even asked Renault about it later, and he confirmed he didn't tamper with it either.

Luck seemed to be the only explanation.

In reality, the prizes weren't that attractive to the participants from Renault's side. Besides Midoriya and Uraraka's involvement, the competition's mechanics intrigued the others more.

There were various events in the competition, including but not limited to riddles, deductions, and knowledge quizzes. The range of activities was extensive.

"I wonder how they came up with such a complicated schedule. Isn't it a bit exaggerated? So many events?" Renault looked at the prizes on the stage and recalled the competition's various challenges, quite amazed.

At this moment, a voice came from behind.

"I planned the content of the competition."

Everyone turned around to see a man in a black coat, meticulously combed hair, and a cool demeanor wearing glasses.

"Sir!" Togata exclaimed in surprise.

Midoriya turned a bit belatedly, shocked. "Sir Nighteye!"

Indeed, the person was none other than Nighteye, Togata and Midoriya's boss at the office.

Renault understood, "So, Sir Nighteye, you're the one who planned this competition. But how did you..."

"I happen to know the mayor here, and it wasn't anything troublesome. I just did a little bit of work." Nighteye said as he pushed up his glasses. "I checked the list of participants when I came over at noon. Midoriya, you're participating too?"

Although Midoriya had been working under Nighteye for a while, he still felt nervous when facing him.

"Yes, I'm participating."

Nighteye nodded, "Well then, let me see your skills. But I want to clarify upfront, this competition isn't related to your hero abilities. It will test your intellectual capacity and adaptability, not a child's play by any means."

Initially, Midoriya was quite relaxed, but now with Nighteye's sudden appearance and his words, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

If it were just him, it'd be one thing, but Midoriya was teamed up with Uraraka. He worried about embarrassing himself in front of her when the time came...

Uraraka also noticed Midoriya's nervousness and immediately smiled to encourage him, "Izuku-kun, come on, we must get a good ranking!"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

Even though Uraraka truly seemed like an angel, Midoriya was still extremely nervous. The situation this time seemed to be getting bigger and messier.

Soon, with the mayor's signal gunshot, the competition began.

All participants rushed towards the starting point set up in the square to collect their first clue, which would lead them to the next step.

Not only Midoriya's group but also the members of the other four groups each received their respective clues. However, they all showed expressions of confusion before heading in different directions.

"They've scattered!" Ashido pointed to the directions in which everyone had split, saying, "What about us?"

"Do I even need to say it?"

"Of course, we'll follow Midoriya and the others!"

The remaining people, including the curious Tsukasa, agreed with this point.

And Nighteye, who was still puzzled by the situation, said, "The rules state that we can't assist the participants, and each location has staff members."

"Of course, we're not going to help."

"We're just going to spectate."

"Let's go, let's go, or we'll lose them!"

"Be careful, don't get caught!"

Watching everyone follow along, Nighteye's expression also showed confusion. Eventually, he picked up his pace and followed suit.

"It seems quite interesting."

Togata noticed Nighteye's actions and quickly joined him.

"Sir, curious about our purpose in tailing them?"

"Indeed." Nighteye didn't hide anything, nodding in agreement.

"Hehe, then let me tell you, but don't tell Midoriya. This is a secret!"

Nighteye glanced at Togata and confidently stated, "I've never been one to leak information."

Subsequently, the two of them fell back to the end of the group and began whispering to each other.

Renault, noticing the commotion behind, also smiled and said, "Looks like the new year has brought even Sir Nighteye some excitement."

Indeed, under normal circumstances, Nighteye wouldn't display such behavior.

Standing beside Renault, Tsukasa spoke in a lower voice, "About Nighteye back there..."

"He's the owner of a hero office, a Pro Hero with the ability Foresight, which can foresee the future but has some limitations. He's also the boss of Midoriya and Togata-senpai, and used to be All Might's sidekick."

"I see, and Foresight's ability is somewhat similar to Zi-O's."

"Zi-O? Does the other person also have the ability of Foresight?"

Tsukasa nodded and shook his head, "His title is the Demon King of Time and Space, and indeed, he possesses time-related abilities, but it's more complex than just Foresight."

As they were discussing, the group noticed some developments up ahead.